66

Joly asked for some time alone when they left Clémence's, and it seemed unfair to do anything other than allow him that one small thing. She watched him disappear around the street corner, in the opposite direction to where they would normally go for him to return home. She wondered if he even knew where he was going, or whether his plan was just to wander aimlessly.

The sky had been a mint green this morning but was now fading to a softer grey, dark around the edges but with scattered white here and there. With a sigh, Éponine folded her arms over her chest and set off down the road, her mind processing what they had learned.

To move on, Joly had to speak to Musichetta; but he would not be able to travel to the human world to do so. Éponine had wondered whether she could subvert Clémence's claim that he would never visit the human world again, by just taking him there, but it didn't seem like the right idea. Clémence had promised that she would find a way, but her mind couldn't conjure up any ideas beyond that one.

"Éponine."

The voice was a hushed call from a doorway. She turned towards it, and saw Inès' mother framed in the doorway to one of the inns. She, too, had her arms folded over her chest, and came creeping out into the street. "I was going to visit you later," she said.

Éponine took a step backwards. "I don't want to talk to you," she said. "I'm going to carry on walking."

"Please. I just want to –" Jeanne began.

"I have no interest in talking to you at all," Éponine said. "There isn't anything more we have to say to one another, apart from stay away from Inès, that should be clear for you by now."

"Please." Jeanne held out her hands, like she was asking Éponine not to hurt her. "I have an offer."

"An offer?" Despite herself, Éponine was curious. "What kind of offer?"

"I know what you can do," Jeanne said, a tiny smile playing on her thin lips as she realised that she had some of Éponine's attention. "Your powers. Your abilities. You can visit the human world, can't you?"

Éponine didn't answer.

"You can't lie." Jeanne was stood right next to her now. "I know that you can, and I know you can take other people to visit as well. I would like to go."

"You want me to take you to the human world? Why?"

"I have unfinished business. I need to say goodbye to my son. He is the only one who is..." Her eyes flickered shut. "He is still alive, and I never got the chance to say a proper goodbye. This is my only chance..."

"I'm your only chance," Éponine corrected. "And why would I help you? All you have done since you arrived here is make Inès miserable."

"This is my offer," Jeanne said. "If you do this for me, I will leave Inès alone. All of us will leave Inès alone. On that, you have my word. She will never see us again, unless she wants to."

Éponine cocked her head to one side. "I'm not sure I believe you."

"You have my word," Jeanne repeated. "I love my son and I want to say goodbye to him. I would swear on his life that I will never see Inès again if you help me."

"You're trading one child for another," Éponine said, shaking her head.

"Inès hates me. You shouldn't begrudge me giving you what she wants."

"I still don't like you, and I don't particularly like this idea," Éponine said, turning around and starting to walk down the street.

"Is that a no?" Jeanne called after her, thankfully not following.

Éponine ignored her, and carried on walking.

XXX

She arrived at Combeferre's flat not long after, and found him inside, drinking tea and reading from a book. He was alone, and told her that Enjolras was at the library and Courfeyrac was out with Prouvaire.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she said, "But I'm not sure what. Surprise me."

She took off her shawl and draped it over the back of the sofa. "I've had an interesting day," she said.

"Have you? My day has been remarkably uninteresting, except I've managed to read two books. It's been very pleasant." Combeferre was pouring something bright red into a little glass cup. "This is something that Courfeyrac conjures up," Combeferre said. "I'm not sure what it's supposed to be, but it's rather refreshing."

It was; it tasted sharp, a little sour, but also very sweet. It was cool, but not overly so, and she found herself with an empty glass rather soon.

"So, what is this interesting day?" Combeferre asked, taking a seat on one of the armchairs.

"Joly paid me a visit," she said, placing her empty cup down on the little coffee table. "He confided in me."

"Ah." Combeferre eased back into the cushions. "Should you be telling me this?"

"I won't go into details," she assured him. "But he's asked for my help."

"I'm glad to hear it," Combeferre said. "Will you?"

"Of course." Éponine brushed hair out of her eyes. "I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't."

"Thank you," Combeferre said. "We would all be incredibly grateful for whatever you can do. It is strange, for me, to see Joly so...despondent, I suppose. It doesn't suit him."

"I agree."

He gestured at her empty cup. "Would you like some more? I should have brought the jug over."

He began to rise slightly out of his chair; her mouth still tasted sweet and sour, and it tasted delicious, but she shook her head.

"I'm all right, thank you," she said. "There is more."

"More?" He sat back down.

"As I was walking over here, I ran into Inès' mother. Jeanne." Éponine cleared her throat before continuing. "She made me an offer."

Combeferre nodded.

"She would like me to take her to the human world," Éponine said. "So she can say goodbye to her only living son – she misses him, and from what Inès has told me, he was the one she chose to stay with, the one she chose to support. But she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him properly, and she knows that I can take her to see him."

"And the offer?" Combeferre prompted.

"If I do it, she will leave Inès alone for good, and make sure that her brothers and sisters do, too."

"I thought you had scared them off?" Combeferre rubbed a hand over his chin. "You threatened them, didn't you?"

"Yes," Éponine said.

"And there's no guarantee that she definitely will stay away, regardless of either your threat or her promise..."

"Yes."

"What are your instincts telling you?"

"My instincts are telling me not to do it," Éponine admitted. "I don't trust Jeanne, and I don't trust her children aside from Inès. Definitely not that Arnaud."

"Then do not do it," Combeferre said immediately. "If you are not comfortable with it, then you shouldn't do it."

"A nice idea," Éponine murmured. "But most things in life aren't actually that simple."

"We're not in life, though. We're dead, and I've found things seem a little bit simpler here," Combeferre said.

"For you, maybe," Éponine replied.

"Well, not for you, obviously." There was a kind sparkle in Combeferre's eyes, despite his words. "If I didn't know you better I'd say you seek out this kind of bother."

"More like it has a talent for finding me." Éponine got to her feet in a rustle of skirts, picking up her glass to go and refill it. She waved a hand at Combeferre when he made motions for her to sit down and that he would get her another drink instead. She filled her glass until it was almost spilling over, and then bent down to take a little sip.

"What are you going to do?" Combeferre asked.

"Have you any suggestions?"

"You know my suggestion, I've just said it. I think it might actually be as simple as not giving in to what Jeanne wants. Do you have a bad feeling about it, or is it just because you don't like her?"

Éponine thought about it, picking up her glass and carrying it back over to the sofa. "Both, I think. Obviously I don't like her, but...There's something else. As I've said, I don't trust her. What I'm unsure of is what in particular I don't trust. Is it the claim she'll leave Inès alone or..." She trailed off.

"Do you think she has an ulterior motive?" Combeferre suggested.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Éponine said, sipping from her glass. She shrugged, sighed against the rim of her glass. "I feel like it's a bit of a hopeless situation. No matter what I choose..."

"There is one person who might be able to help you make this choice," Combeferre said. "And that's Inès. She knows her mother, and it is partially up to her anyway, considering the offer concerns her."

Éponine winced. "I haven't actually mentioned the fact that I spoke to her family to Inès yet," she said. "She didn't ask last night and I didn't want to upset her by mentioning it..."

Combeferre looked a bit disappointed, but didn't vocalise any disapproval of her silence.

"But you're right," she allowed. "I should discuss it with Inès first, even if it's just to get a better idea of what we might be dealing with."

She drained her glass with one quick swallow, and put the cup down. "I'll go and do it now," she said, decisively, after a glance out of the window that showed the sky had gone completely dark.

"Let me know what decision you make," Combeferre said as she put her shawl around her shoulders.

"I will," she promised.

OOO

Inès was curled up in her nightdress, pulling a bit of string across the floor for Hyacinthe. Gavroche was asleep on the sofa, one leg dangling so his foot touched the ground.

"How long has he been asleep for?" Éponine asked, pausing by the foot of the sofa to brush a hand over his hair.

"Not long," Inès said. "Where have you been all day?"

"I was with Joly for a while," she said. "Then I ran into your mother."

Inès paused, and began to twist her bit of string around her thumb, until the tip went a yellowy white. The cat meowed with the loss of her toy, and then sat down to begin cleaning herself.

"What happened?" Inès asked, finally.

"She asked me to take her to the human world so she could say goodbye to your brother," Éponine said. "In return, she promised to leave you alone, and make sure that the rest leave you alone."

Inès stared at her thumb, and then slowly unwound the string. "I see."

"Last night, after you came home, I went to see them." Éponine sat down on the floor next to her.

"I guessed," Inès said. "I've been waiting for you to tell me."

"I threatened them," Éponine admitted. "I said that if they didn't leave you alone, I'd trap them in the human world."

"Can you do that?" Inès said with a frown.

"Well, I can send people there, and without someone else like me I'm not sure how they'd get back," Éponine said.

Inès flicked the string out so it was on the floor, and began to drag it in front of the cat. Hyacinthe looked up from where she was licking her paw to stare at the string, as if calculating whether or not this was a battle she wanted to take on. A moment later, she pounced, obviously having decided that it was.

"Your mother's offer would suggest they didn't take my threat particularly seriously," Éponine said, quietly.

"Do it," Inès said.

"What?"

"Do it, please." Inès looked up from the little kitten. "I'm – if there's a chance they'll leave me alone, then do it. Please."

"Do you trust your mother?" Éponine asked.

Inès shrugged. "I don't know. What can she do?"

"I don't know," Éponine said. "But you'd like me to do it?"

Inès nodded once.

"All right," Éponine said, softly. "Then I'll do it."

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Uni has been pretty busy, I'll try and do better next time.